Hidden Powers
by HyperFerret
Summary: Post Book 3, a desperate Korra learns bloodbending to get herself walking again. Later, Bolin discovers the origin of the combustion-benders, and Firelord Izumi finally gets her moment of awesome.
1. Prologue

_Authors' Notes: This fic is co-written by HyperFerret and Katrina. While we do reference some events that took place in Katrina's fic, "Switched Powers", the story is intended to stand on its own. (And if it doesn't, let us know in the reviews!) The authors acknowledge some stretching of the Avatar universe rules to make this plot happen. We're okay with that._

 _Setting: The year is AG 172 and Korra is still in recovery from her battle with Zaheer._

 _#_

Zuko reached out towards the roaring fire. He felt no warmth from it; only the sensation that the heat improved the circulation in his hands. Which, at his age, wasn't a bad thing.

It was Chief Tonraq and his wife Senna who had opened their home to him on his visit to the Southern Water Tribe, but it was Katara who'd insisted on seeing him first. Not far down the hallway was Korra's room. She was sleeping, of course. At least, Zuko sincerely hoped she was at his time of night.

Katara slipped another log into the fireplace in silence. She'd insisted on starting the flames herself, even when the flint was proving stubborn. He was the guest, after all. Asking him to firebend for their convenience would have just been rude.

As Zuko watched the flames dance, his eyes fixated on the base of the fire. The place where, if only for brief seconds, he could see glimpses of blue. He knew full well the blue fire would bring back bad memories, but he always tried to face his fears. His uncle had taught him that. Without letting the fear overtake him, he allowed his thought to drift back to the day of Sozin's comet…

#

 _The battle with Azula had been going so well. He'd even goaded her to prepare a lightning strike against him, despite the fact that he was clearly in a defensive position, ready to direct it back at her. A picture of calm. Then, her gaze shifted. The fear surged through him as he realized that Azula no longer aimed at him. His body had already started to react even before he turned to confirm it was Katara in danger._

 _The best solution would've been to try to push her out of the way. But she was so far behind him, and his hand was right there. If he reached out and touched the lightning, maybe he could move it away from her. Sure his position wasn't the best, but if he didn't try-_

 _"No!" Zuko cried out. His fingers reached out and touched the white light headed straight for her. He wasn't ready. His stance was completely wrong. The lightning was supposed to feel like a stream of energy, flowing from one hand to the other. The second Azula's attack hit him, however, he felt the heat of it scatter into his body, breaking it like a fragile glass ball. Desperately, he moved his other hand, willing away whatever energy he could. A small amount seemed to obey him. But his arms didn't seem to listen the way he wanted, and rest of the energy wracked his body as he fell to the ground._

 _What frightened Zuko wasn't the fall, though. It was the fact that he could barely feel it. He rolled over purely from the momentum, and his arms fell uselessly to his sides._

 _Katara's still in danger, a voice screamed in his head. I have to get up to help her. But no matter how he struggled, he could only lift his head and flex his fingers. The rest of his body refused to obey._

#

"So," a much older Katara said, interrupting his thoughts. "Is this a friendly visit or a diplomatic one?"

Zuko had to shake his head a bit to orient himself back in the present. His finger twitched, pulling his hands back to his lap. "Both," he finally answered. "Officially, Izumi requested that I ask if Harmonic Convergence revealed any new benders in the Southern Water Tribe."

Katara picked up the fireplace poker as he spoke, nudging the logs around without much rhyme or reason. "No new airbenders; Korra asked me that months ago."

"I assumed as much."

Katara seemed satisfied that the fire wasn't going to spontaneously shut itself down and pulled the poker back from the flames. A log shifted, sending a splattering of sparks onto the hearth.

"One of our nonbenders did become a waterbender, though," she added on. "Oh, and we got one… well, technically three earthbenders."

"'Technically'?" Zuko asked.

"Well, two of them can metalbend, so I guess you'd call them earthbenders," Katara said. "But ask them to move even a little rock, and they just can't do it."

"Really?" Zuko asked. It didn't totally surprise him. They'd found a couple new swampbenders in the Northern Water Tribe who were completely unable to bend water on its own. They were all wealthy kids who, when their abilities were confirmed, insisted there was no way they were going to leave their homes and travel to some disgusting swamp out in the Earth Kingdom. They had to be assured quite a few times that no one was actually asking them to leave.

"And what about the Fire Nation?" Katara asked, with a bit of a tease in that old voice of hers. "You have people who can make lightning but not fire over there now?"

"No," Zuko answered, his eyes darting away from Katara and back to the fire. "We've got bloodbenders."

He tried to say the word quickly, so he didn't get caught in the past again. But the silence that followed his statement left his mind too free to wander…

 _#_

 _In the end, it was Katara who took down Azula, though Zuko didn't find out until later how she did it. He only knew that by the time it was over, his father had also been defeated and his friends were back at the Fire Nation palace, gathering around him._

 _Katara bent down and slung Zuko's right arm over her shoulder. He grunted angrily at the assistance, but the rest of his body leaned against her like a rag doll._

 _"Hey, I need some help," she said._

 _Zuko winced. "I-I don't think I can move."_

 _"What are you talking about?" Katara said. "You told me you just felt numb."_

 _"Yeah, as in I can't move!"_

 _"Both of you, please!" Aang begged. "Lay him back down, Katara. If he's injured, we're just going to make it worse by moving him around."_

 _"I know that," she said defensively._

 _She removed the sash around her waist, folding it up to make a pillow before letting Zuko lay down again. Then, she called forth the water from her side, letting it gather around her former enemy's neck, and back, and chest._

 _"Nothing broken," she said. "The lightning must've messed with your nerves, somehow."_

 _She concentrated her power, willing the water to mend whatever damage was there. But after sitting in her trance for several minutes, nothing seemed to change, and Katara's hands began to tremble with frustration._

 _Aang finally stopped her. "Katara, it's enough," he said. "You're going to hurt yourself doing that much. And I don't think the water is going to heal anymore."_

 _Katara's eyes started to well up with tears. "But... he got injured because of me. I have to do something."_

 _"You can stop crying all over me," Zuko muttered. No one listened to him._

 _"You did everything you could," Aang told her. "And besides, it'll heal on its own in time, right?"_

 _Katara didn't answer._

 _"Right?"_

#

"So? What's the other reason you came?" Any humor in Katara's voice was gone now. She'd always been like that. Bring up bloodbending, and Katara went from the happy and friendly woman he usually knew to someone he barely recognized at all. Zuko wasn't looking forward to this conversation. "I wanted to talk about Korra."

She didn't answer him. A bad sign.

"Katara, it's been months, " he went on, "and correct me if I'm wrong, but Korra isn't seeing much progress. I know it's not the ideal option, but maybe it's time you let me-"

"I'm handling her healing," Katara snapped.

Zuko gritted his teeth. First she refused to answer and now she was interrupting him? Fine. If she was going to resort to childish tactics, then so could he. "Oh, and that's going marvelously well, isn't it?"

She grunted at him. For the love of Sozin, why did she have to be so stubborn? Her failure to heal him after Azula's lightning strike had been one of the biggest failures in her career as a physician. She'd called it as much, too. As if Zuko's only shot at happiness was her performing a medical miracle. Katara meant well, but sometimes she thought far too highly of herself.

"Healing takes time, Zuko," she finally said. "Don't go pressuring Korra. She's had enough of that."

"If I wanted to pressure Korra, I'd speak to her," Zuko replied. "But I'm speaking to you. Let her learn it. It doesn't have to permanent." It wasn't his smartest argument. Those words had been said before. This time, however, it was Katara who brought up the past. Her voice got quiet, and Zuko's fingers twitched again as he leaned his body forward to hear her.

"'Doesn't have to be permanent?'" she whispered. "I said that to Aang right after Azula struck you. Seems like seventy years of you borrowing a bit of my bending is pretty permanent."

Zuko wanted to answer that it was hardly borrowing. After all, she'd hated bloodbending from the moment she'd learned it. She couldn't wait to get rid of it. Once again, he thought of times past…

#

 _"Wait a minute," Toph said. "Aang, how did you say you beat Ozai, again?"_

 _"I... I took his bending away from him," Aang replied. "Why?"_

 _His reply seemed to get Katara's mind whirling. "So you can take away people's bending when you're in the Avatar state?" she asked._

 _Aang shrugged. "I don't know. It's not exactly something I've tried before now. Why?"_

 _Katara bit her lip. "Could you switch two people's powers?"_

 _It didn't take a genius to see where she was going. "Are you crazy?" Sokka asked._

 _"It's the only solution that makes sense," Katara said. "If Zuko could bloodbend, he could move on his own until his body heals itself."_

 _"If I could bloodbend, I'd be a waterbender," he said. "Which would be kind of awkward if I'm supposed to running the Fire Nation."_

 _"Plus, I have no idea if I can even exchange powers or not," Aang said. "I agree with Zuko. It's a really bad idea. We'll find another way to help him."_

 _"We don't have another way," Katara insisted. Zuko had never seen her so worked up about something before. She was extremely determined to go through with this._

 _"It's not permanent anyway," she said, turning to him. "Once you're healed, Aang can reverse our powers back again."_

 _#_

It was one of those plans that would have been absolutely brilliant if it had worked. Not that Aang had failed in any way. He'd taken energybending to a level no one had dreamed of. But sometimes life just didn't work according to plan.

Zuko shook his head. "Look, let's not argue about how long Korra might need bloodbe-"

Katara coughed loudly.

"…might need _that_ technique to help her get around. There's defensive reasons to consider." He brought his voice back up to normal speaking levels. As long as Katara was going to cough through anything questionable, no point in making his voice hoarse through all that whispering. "Let her learn it. It's a useful skill for her to-"

"It will never be a 'useful skill,'" Katara said.

Zuko gave up. Not that he'd expected the conversation to go anywhere, but he at least thought he'd be able to get a few words in. But this was the one topic he and Katara would never agree on. It broke down their friendship and brought them back to where they were barely speaking to each other. Like when Zuko first joined their team all those years ago.

Katara talked a bit more after that, but Zuko really wasn't listening to her. He'd go in to visit Korra tomorrow. Maybe he could reassure himself that he'd been overreacting, that Korra was clearly on the road to recovery, and that the avatar would return soon. But somehow, he had a nagging doubt in his stomach.


	2. Chapter 1

Korra stirred in the middle of the night. She was pretty sure she'd heard arguing. No one argued in her dreams. Either she didn't remember them at all or she dreamed of someone trying to kill her. Her brain didn't have much middle ground.

"Oh, and that's going marvelously well, isn't it?" The voice was sarcastic. Elderly, too. She thought at first it belonged to Zuko, but that didn't make any sense. He had traveled back to the Fire Nation weeks ago. He had no reason to suddenly change course and show up at the Southern Water Tribe again. But then-

"Healing takes time, Zuko. Don't go pressuring Korra. She's had enough of that."

 _Thanks, Katara,_ Korra thought. She heard the crack of sparks. Apparently, they had a fire going.

"If I wanted to pressure Korra, I'd speak to her," Zuko replied. "But I'm speaking to you." His voice suddenly got lower, and Korra couldn't discern any words. After a few moments, though, Zuko's voice rose back to a normal level. "Let her learn it. It doesn't have to permanent. And it's a useful skill for her to-"

"It will never be a 'useful skill,'" Katara snapped. That was more than a little unnerving. So far, during their therapy sessions, Korra had cursed at Katara, called all her healing techniques useless and stupid, and basically dished out a whole bunch of crap that would've made any normal person punch her in the face by now. Katara always came back with that calm, reassuring voice of hers. Korra didn't think the woman was even capable of getting angry. Apparently, she was wrong.

"You can visit her tomorrow," Katara finally said. "I think it will do her good to see someone besides me. But don't you dare bring this topic up with her, do you understand?"

"Yes, ma'am," Zuko replied, thick on the sarcasm once again. Then his footsteps moved down the hallway and faded away.

There was something inherent in Korra that hated being told no to anything. Once as a kid, she had kept her room spotless for months after her dad expressly forbade her from cleaning it. She'd only stopped when she'd finally caught on to his tactics and kept her guard up against all forms of cleanliness after that.

But no one had meant for her to overhear this time. So whatever it was that Katara had told Zuko not to talk about, Korra wanted that to be the first part of their conversation tomorrow.

#

The next morning, Korra shoved her collection of unanswered letters into her drawer first thing. Katara had seen them a few times, had asked her once if she'd replied, and after that, she'd been putting them out of sight anytime she expected company. Even moreso for someone she'd been fighting alongside, that her past self knew so well. Her arm felt heavy as she shoved the drawer shut. Even though she knew the poison was gone from her, it was like her muscles never got that message. A knock came at the door.

"Come in," she grunted, trying to position herself so that it didn't look like she'd been about the faceplant onto the floor. A creak of hinges, and then Zuko appeared at the door.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, pulling up a chair to her bedside.

"Okay." She replied before he'd finished his sentence. She'd answered that question so many times now, she didn't even hear herself speak the words anymore. It was like "hello" or "good morning", the opening of the conversation each person had to spit out to each other before any real talk could happen.

She sat up and straightened against the head of the bed. Best to be blunt right off the bat. "What were you and Katara talking about last night?"

Zuko's bushy white eyebrow raised in surprise. His knobby fingers twitched and he shifted uneasily in his chair. "We were… talking about you," he finally said.

Korra wanted to scream. "I know that," she said. "I meant, what were you saying about me. You were discussing some kind of… treatment."

If Zuko had looked nervous before, this statement doubled the effect. Korra was a bit worried he might just stand up and leave. Thankfully, he didn't. His fingers still twitched quite a bit, though, and he reached up and massaged his temples.

"Why don't you tell me how much you heard and I'll fill you in where I can?" he suggested.

That seemed fair enough to Korra. She repeated the conversation, as much as she could remember, and Zuko nodded thoughtfully at each point as if he had just been hearing it for the first time himself.

"So?" Korra asked when she'd reached the end and Zuko still hadn't said anything.

The old man shrugged. "So what?" he asked.

Korra groaned. Did she have to spell everything out? Zuko might've been getting on in years, but he wasn't senile. "So, what is the useful skill that you and Katara were going on about?"

Zuko's gaze fell to the ground. She had to admit, she felt a bit guilty. Whatever it was, Katara had told him not to talk about it, after all, and here she was demanding he break his promise what, a whole twelve hours later? She had to admit though, she was relieved to see him meet her eyes again. "Well, I suppose Katara can't hold it against me if I simply answered your question. The skill we were 'going on about' was bloodbending."

Korra froze. There was no smile on Zuko's face as he said it, and now she knew why.

"You… you wanted me to learn bloodbending?"

"That was my suggestion, yes."

 _I was wrong. The old man's gone completely insane._ "The same thing that Amon used to take people's bending away? The same thing that Yakone and Tarrlok used to manipulate and terrify people? _That's_ what you thought I should learn?"

Just like Katara, Zuko showed no offence at her insults. He actually nodded like they were marvelously insightful. "As I said, it was merely a suggestion. You seem to take Katara's point of view on the matter. She'll be happy to know that."

Korra leaned back in her bed. "I'm sorry," she sighed. "To be honest, it's not anything I ever thought about before."

"Let me be clear," Zuko said, fingers twitching once again as he leaned forward. "I think the ability is horrifically easy to abuse. I would trust it to very few people, especially ones your age. But I would trust you."

Korra nodded to acknowledge him, but couldn't think how to answer. Zuko wasn't an evil person. If he brought up the idea, she was pretty sure he meant it in the best possible way. She tried to work her mind around the images she had of bloodbending, tried to imagine using it not to hurt people, but to get her feet to do what she wanted for a change.

"You think it would… get me walking again?"

"In my very non-medical opinion, I believe it would aid the process, yes. I wouldn't expect you to stop your therapy, of course," his voice got stern there, almost like Korra was getting scolded, "but I think getting out and about would help you immensely. You've been in here too long."

 _Tell me about it,_ Korra thought. It wasn't like she couldn't leave. Heck, if she asked it, the whole village would probably march out and parade her wherever it was she felt like going. But that was just the problem. She didn't want to need anyone. She'd had enough of that. Her eyes fell to the wall she'd pinned a few photos of her friends, too. She'd meant to fill it with lots more, but then the idea of seeing just how many photos accumulated while she refused to write everyone felt more depressing than anything else.

"Well, I guess the whole conversation is kind of moot," she said. "If Katara won't teach me, there's not really anything I can do."

Now, strangely enough, Zuko smiled. "Well, Katara wouldn't be your teacher," he said.

"Huh?" Korra wracked her brain trying to think who else Zuko could be talking about. Maybe Tarrlok had secretly taught bloodbending to Unalaq, Desna, and Eska? The thought of learning anything from the twins made her shudder. No matter how much they'd denounced their father, it didn't change the fact that Eska had tried to kill her.

 _Zuko tried to kill your past self, too, idiot,_ she reminded herself. Then curiosity got the better of her. "Okay, um… who would be my teacher then? In theory, of course?"

"Of course," Zuko said. Then the smile faded from his face. Whatever name he was about to give, he seemed very hesitant to let it go. "I would," he finally said.

She must've heard that wrong. "Um, you would?"

He nodded. "That's correct."

"Okay, um, no offense, Zuko, sir, but I… don't see how you would be able to do that. I mean, you know, the firebending and everything?"

"Ah, yes," the old man said, as if he'd completely forgotten that. "Well, I have your past self to thank for keeping that ability." He sat there watching her, hands folded on his lap, not giving the least indication that any of this was a joke.

"You're serious," Korra finally said.

"I generally am. Character flaw ever since my teenage years, I'm afraid."

Korra scowled. She'd had quite enough of vague answers and whatever this game Zuko was playing was all about.

"Okay, prove it." She crossed her arms. "Use bloodbending on me."

He looked nervously at the floor. Figured. "Katara tells me you're… having issues dealing with the trauma of some of your past battles."

The words felt like someone jabbing at Korra with needles. Annoying in one or two blows. Really painful by the time she'd dealt with them a million times. "Oh, no," she said. "No. You are not going to become one more person who tells me they don't want to push me too hard. You said you could bloodbend, and you knew I wouldn't believe you, so you obviously came in here expecting to do it."

"I came in here excepting you hadn't heard any of that conversation last night," Zuko said. "Then I expected that once I told you, you'd have the same reaction Katara did and we would end it there. I _expected_ this conversation to be over a good five minutes ago."

He had a point there. Not that she would say so. "Well, you're wrong, and it didn't. So either prove you can do it or get out." _And let me sit around doing absolutely nothing again._

Zuko's eyes darted back and forth as he seemed to wrestle with himself. "I have ground rules," he finally said, more serious than she'd ever heard him before. (And that was saying a lot for Zuko.) "No one uses the technique on anything other than the person they're training with. You announce clearly what you plan on doing and confirm the other person is all right with that. So, in this case," he pointed to Korra's still-crossed arms, "I'm going to uncross your arms and let your hands rest on your knees. Is that fine with you?"

"Um, sure, it's fine," Korra said, tightening up her arms a bit.

Zuko nodded. "Very well, then." His fingers twitched and he rotated his wrist by the smallest fraction. But then, in perfect sync, Korra felt like her arms were floating. Without any signal from her, they uncrossed just as Zuko had said, and both her hands came to rest palms down on her knees. Then, suddenly, the floating sensation left her, and she felt their weight once again.

"H-how?" She couldn't even think of what to say. She'd seen Zuko firebend countless times. How was this even possible?

"Korra? Korra!" She looked over to see Zuko's eyes wide, his skin growing pale. "Korra, are you all right?" he asked.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," she said quickly, holding up her hands as if to prove they still worked as normal. "I'm sorry, it just… really took me by surprise." She shook her head, going over the memory in her head once more. "It was strange. It didn't feel like when Amon or Tarrlok used it on me. I mean, it was weird, don't get me wrong, but…" she lifted her hands, searching for the right word. "It didn't feel like an attack."

Zuko nodded, clearly relieved. "It makes sense. Amon and his brother were sloppy. And they both had very little practice."

"Um, how much practice have you had, sir?"'

"Well, I imagine only slightly less practice than Toph has had with seismic sensing," he said. Then his finger twitched again and he lifted his hand as if holding something up for her to see. "Katara told you about our battle with Azula, I assume?"

"Um, which one?"

"Fair point. Our agni kai for the throne during Sozin's comet." Korra nodded, and Zuko continued, "Azula struck me with her lightning during that battle and I failed to redirect it properly. Since then, this," he rotated his wrist and his hand came to rest on his lap once again, "has been my only way of moving anything beyond my hands or neck. Aang was the one who transferred Katara's ability to me, using the technique known as energybending. I can't use any other form of waterbending, and she can no longer use bloodbending." He looked thoughtfully at the ceiling. "Though I'd venture to say, she hasn't missed it terribly much."

Korra was stunned. She could barely stutter out her words. "Y-you're moving through bloodbending?"

"Correct."

"For seventy years?"

"Has it been that long? Well, then, yes, I suppose so."

Korra shook her head, reconsidering the idea that maybe this conversation and last night's conversations were both crazy dreams. Or that Bolin had snuck her something tainted with cactus juice. He'd suggested that as an energy booster once. She'd been cautious of any edibles he sent her way ever since.

"Hang on," she said, struggling for a hole in Zuko's story. "Bloodbending's been banned for decades. You were there when Katara banned it."

"More than that," he said. "I was on the council that voted to ban it." He finally seemed to sense that his vague answers were about drive Korra completely insane and added, "I had the dissenting opinion."

Korra shook her head. At this point, she didn't care if something was insane or not. She wasn't even sure she would care if this whole thing turned out to be a juice-induced hallucination after all. If Zuko's plan had even the tiniest fraction of chance to help her, she planned to take it.

"All right, then. Let's do this."

"Now, hold on just a moment," said Zuko, putting his hands up as if in defense. "You asked who would've been your teacher, and I answered your question. I never said I would-"

"Never said you would what? Actually teach me when I asked?"

"I-I-" Zuko sighed. "Korra, to put it in even the nicest terms, if I teach you bloodbending specifically against your doctor's orders, Katara will have my neck."

"Katara's not the avatar," said Korra. She pounded the bedside table. She'd pounded it many times growing up, and it always gave a good strong crack. This time, however, her weakened punch sounded more like a muffled thump. "Katara's not the avatar," Korra repeated. "She's there to make suggestions, but I should decide what treatment I try. And I want to try this. Please."

She watched Zuko's face soften.

"I imagine your father won't be fond of this either," he said. "And if word of this gets to him, I'm sure my welcome at the Southern Water Tribe will be quickly worn out."

 _Oh, I didn't think of that._ Korra felt a bit guilty about that. Okay, more than a bit.

But then Zuko smiled. "Well, it wouldn't be the first time in my life I've been unwelcome here. I suppose if I've been allowed back after nearly burning the place down, I might still have a chance after teaching the avatar some illegal bending." He stood up. "Let's begin your first lesson."


	3. Chapter 2

"Bloodbending is largely a matter of keeping the body under your influence moving." Zuko had not been joking about starting their lessons right away. Korra was out of bed now, sitting in chair identical to Zuko's, the two of them facing each other in the center of the room. Other than that, though, nothing had changed.

Zuko held his hand open and created a small flame. It danced between his fingertips. Korra reached out a shaky hand and she could feel its warmth. Zuko lowered the flame into her waiting fingers gently, like someone passing over a baby hamster seal for her to hold. She cradled it.

"You must maintain a certain amount of firebending to keep the flame lit," he explained. "The same holds true for bloodbending. Drop your concentration and you could do some serious damage." He waved his hand and the warm flame vanished from between Korra's fingers. All that remained was a puff of smoke.

"Got it. Don't think about other stuff too much. I can handle that," she said.

Zuko nodded. "My… last student hated these sorts of analogies. She wasn't a firebender, so she said they did nothing but confuse her."

Korra shrugged. She wanted to know who his last student was, how many students he'd had exactly, but decided not to ask. "Well, you've got an advantage teaching the avatar, then," she said. "What's next?"

Zuko turned out to be not that different from many of her other teachers. Namely, he was fond of talking about the theory of something long before he let her have any real experience with it. He gave incredibly long and inane lectures about the structure of the human body. Within a couple days, Korra had memorized the names of more muscle groups than she knew pro-bending teams.

"When you're aiming to defend yourself, focus on the leg muscles and arm muscles," Zuko told her during one lesson. "It will stop your opponent from bending and it's far easier than trying to focus on the entire body."

"If that's true, then why teach me all this other stuff?" Korra asked. She was feeling particularly annoyed that day. Zuko had scolded her for forgetting where the soleus muscle was and Bolin had been worrying in his last letter if she had moved to Air Temple Island without telling anyone. She really needed to write him back on that.

Zuko narrowed his eyes at her. "You need to know exactly what you're holding in your hands when you use this technique," he said sharply. Then he shook his head. She knew that look. Tenzin gave it to her all the time, especially when they were doing meditation exercises. It was the look that said, "Korra is completely hopeless and will never get this right." Usually it only made her more determined to try again, but in this case, it felt like a crushing blow. She could only take so much failure.

Zuko's eyes softened. "Perhaps my point would be better made with a demonstration," he said. "If you don't mind, I'd like you attempt to hold your breath."

"'Attempt?'" Korra asked. She knew she'd been failing a lot lately, but at least that seemed doable.

Zuko nodded. "With your permission, I am going to make your lungs move against your attempts. Is that acceptable to you?"

Korra felt a cold sweat form over her, but nodded anyway. "Y-yes. That's acceptable." She then did as Zuko had asked, took a long breath, and held it. Or tried to, anyway. As soon as she tightened the muscles in her lungs, she felt them instantly relax. The breath came out as a slow, relaxing exhale that would have let her pass any Tenzin's breathing exercises with ease. Her lungs filled with air and exhaled slowly once more before she found she could control the muscles as normal again.

"You've mastered firebending," Zuko said. "You know how dangerous it is, how quickly it can get out of control. This is so much more. You cradle a person's very life when you use bloodbending. Never forget that."

#

Over the next few weeks, Zuko finally began to let Korra attempt some actual bloodbending. It was much more work than she thought, like going to pick up a hand weight that looked so small and easy only to find out it weighed as much as an polar bear dog.

"And you do this every day?" Korra asked when she'd failed to keep her arm aloft for more than a few seconds. It had been very tempting just to lift the arm with her own muscles, but somehow she had a feeling that wouldn't help her train and Zuko would probably notice.

"Well, I was rather pathetic at it to begin with," Zuko said with a laugh. "Katara and Mai had to walk me through my coronation. A bit embarrassing in retrospect, I suppose, but I really was doing the best I could at the time."

"'Mai?'" Korra asked. "Who's that?"

Zuko stopped smiling for a moment and gazed into the distance, looking every bit of his ninety years. "Izumi's mother," he clarified quietly. "She died quite young. The history books tend not to mention her."

"I'm so sorry," Korra said quickly and went back to practice.

#

"Now… picture yourself walking towards Naga."

Korra griped the bars at either side of her, feeling the metal press into her skin, so tight it could have been grinding into her palm for all she knew. Katara's voice was soft and patient as always. Korra mostly ignored the words and focused on the tone, picturing the reassurances like a soft gentle music behind her.

She had this. She was sure of it. Every day that she practiced with Zuko, she felt her confidence creeping back into her. She'd even taken a few steps on her own. Of course, that had largely been because she'd been using bloodbending to assist her, so in her mind, it didn't quite count. Not yet, anyway.

But today was the day. Today she'd finally take those steps on her own. She imagined Katara's proud face, the look of happiness on her mother and father's faces as well. And she imagined Naga. Warm, soft Naga, waiting loyally for her at the end of this short walk. Just a few more steps. It didn't matter that each of them felt like they were attached to something twice her weight. Just a few more steps…

Her foot slipped. It had slipped in practice with Zuko many times before, and she'd always caught herself. The trouble was the method she used to catch herself. Without giving a second thought as to where she was, Korra motioned with her hand. Her foot steadied itself and she kept walking. At last, Korra felt the knob at the end of each bar and opened her eyes. There was Naga, panting happily. For a second, for the briefest most wonderful second, Korra felt all her frustrations so far vanish, her arms and legs felt their normal weight again as she fell onto Naga's furry chest. The polar bear dog nuzzled her.

Then the happy moment faded. "You caught yourself," Katara observed. She did not sound happy.

"Yeah, isn't that a good thing?" Korra asked, turning to face her teacher. Maybe she walked perfectly on her own, but she'd gotten most of the way there. _Please don't take this victory away from me,_ she thought. _I need it more than ever right now._

"What have you and Zuko been talking about when he visits?" Katara said sharply.

"He tells me what's going on the world. The guy's been practically everywhere."

"Korra, I might not have seismic sensing, but I can tell when you're lying. Zuko taught you bloodbending, didn't he?"

"Only a little," Korra retorted, and of course, immediately regretted it.

Katara's face hardened. "I don't blame you for wanting a shortcut, Korra. But there's nothing good that can come of learning that awful technique. Zuko knows that. He shouldn't have even mentioned it to you, let alone given you lessons."

"I asked him for those lessons!" Korra snapped. It was getting hard to stand now; her legs felt shaky. Still, she leaned on Naga and kept on her feet. "And obviously some good can come from it, because Zuko uses it all the time."

She thought it was a pretty good argument, but Katara seemed to disagree. "Zuko uses bloodbending because he needs to. It's not the same-"

"Maybe that's what I need, too!" Korra snapped. "I don't understand you at all, Katara! I finally walked across a room today, and you're acting like I did something wrong."

Katara shook her head sadly. "Listen to me. I believe that the best possible solution is the one that gets you moving as much as you can on your own, without the need for any bloodbending at all. The second Zuko can't bend, he collapses. Is that what you want?"

"When could he not bend?" Korra asked. She could think of times when waterbending would be weakened, but no time when it would vanish completely. Katara winced a bit, as if she'd said something she really hadn't meant to.

"Never mind," she said. At least, she walked over and brought Korra's wheelchair to her. Korra tried to make it look like she could've gone without it, but relief surged through her quivering muscles as she sat down. "I'll be frank," Katara said quietly. "I understand your reasoning, and I don't hold it against you. But I won't have that power used here. If you plan to bloodbend again, you'll have to finish the recovery process on your own. I'm also going to make sure Zuko heads back to the Fire Nation as soon as possible."

"What?" Korra was totally on board with everything Katara was saying right up until that last line. "Katara, it's not Zuko's fault. I asked him to. He didn't even want to tell me any-"

"It's not up for discussion," Katara said. Korra grunted in response and wheeled herself out of the room.


	4. Chapter 3

_Setting: About three years later…_

Kuvira was defeated. Everyone knew it had been coming. The Earth Kingdom was too vast, too varied, too enormous for even the great uniter to pull it together. But Eli didn't really care about the Earth Kingdom's fate. His only disappointment lay in the fact that Kuvira had not had the chance to turn her great weapon on the Fire Nation. For all the crimes of its past, why had that not been her first target? The woman was a fool and deserved her fate.

But no matter. No matter. He would deal with the Fire Nation himself. He'd pay it back for all the pain it caused, no matter how long it took. He smiled with the thought and turned back to his task at hand.

His subject sat tied to a chair, head ducked down as if that would protect him. Jarvan stood nearby. His whip made a sudden, satisfying crack, and the howl that followed it was even sweeter. Jarvan hadn't even struck that time, just terrified the quivering man so much that the room now stank of urine.

"Now, I will ask you one more time," Eli said. "We know you've traveled with Lord Zuko countless times. He's got to have a weakness. I want to know what it is."

"Nothing," the man cried. "I never saw any weakness." The whip cracked again, still hitting nothing and still igniting the same agonizing cry as if it had.

"M-maybe one time… but it was years ago."

"One time?" Eli's mouth watered. This was exactly the breakthrough he'd been hoping for. "What are you talking about? Explain, now!"

"I don't know what happened!" the sniveling man sputtered out. "We went to visit this one village… this girl came and sat down in the front row of the meeting… and Lord Zuko collapsed. I… don't know what she did to him, exactly. He was fine afterwards. That's all I know. I swear, that's all I know!"

Eli grinned and nodded and Jarvan to ready the whip again. "Tell me more. Where you were, what you know about this girl. I want to hear everything."

#

Korra entered the meeting room about as happy as she knew how to be. She'd finally gotten a well-deserved vacation, Asami's business was doing better than ever, the Earth Kingdom was stable, and if Varrick announced this afternoon that he'd invented joy in a bottle, she'd completely believe him.

 _Probably he'd call it "Varrick-Joy"_ , she thought. " _Only twelve hundred an ounce, people! Don't miss out on these bargain prices!"_

She laughed at her own joke while she took her place at the table. She'd been the last one to arrive. General Iroh sat at the head of the table. Lin was beside him and, to Korra's surprise, Toph was there too. Maybe this was serious. In truth, she had no idea why she'd been called Iroh had just said it was very important and they needed the avatar to attend. She'd made her best attempts to glean from his tone what he meant, but seeing as how it was Iroh, she'd failed pretty badly on that.

Even if it was something bad, she could handle it. She was the avatar and this was the start of the rest of her completely awesome life.

"Nice of you to join us, Avatar Korra," Lin said.

Toph coughed loudly.

"Fine, fine." Lin sighed and turned to Iroh. "An obligatory congratulations on the small helpless human who has now entered your family through the miracle of reproduction. Now if we can-"

"Y-you're a dad?" Korra stuttered. The whole table stared at her life this piece of info had been printed in every Republic City newspaper and only she could've been clueless enough to miss it.

Iroh nodded. "Erm, yes, I am."

"Since when?" Korra asked.

"Since five months ago."

"Hang on, so…" she counted out the months on her fingers, "your wife was expecting during our battle with Kuvira?" Korra suddenly realized that her voice had gotten far too loud, but she couldn't help it. There was no way she'd been this oblivious to Iroh's family life.

"Erm, yes, she was, but calm down. It's not as if she was _in_ the battle with Kuvira."

"I know that." Korra crossed arms, wishing she could explain her thought process better. Having a wife at home with a child on the way. What had Iroh been thinking, being off in the middle of a war like that? Shouldn't he have been off doing... well, she didn't know what exactly. Some sort of dad-like things?

Korra lowered her head. "I'm sorry. I just can't believe I was standing there talking to you and didn't know."

"Yes, yes, congratulations all around," Lin said loudly, waving her hand. "Now, if you don't mind, we have some urgent issues to discuss."

"Oh, everything's urgent to you," said Toph, leaning back in her chair. Lin pounded the table (as if that would prove the urgency of anything), but it was Iroh who finally brought the conversation back to its point.

"Quite frankly, Korra, we've got some issues with new benders. Most of the citizens who acquired airbending from the spirits dealt with it in a healthy way. Many of them are training under Tenzin right now."

Korra nodded her agreements with the facts that everyone knew and Iroh continued, "But the fact of the matter is that it wasn't just airbending that the spirits awakened in people. We're starting to see new benders of all sorts - water, fire, and earth alike."

"Well, that's… good. I think?" Korra said.

"Iroh's dancing around the topic," Lin snapped. "These aren't just general earth or waterbenders. They know some very specialized techniques. And that's all they know."

"So, wait. Metalbenders who can't earthbend?"

Lin nodded. "Exactly. And lightning benders who can't firebend. And the part where we're having trouble right now. The bloodbenders."

Korra felt a chill go down her spine, even though she was fairly sure the windows were all closed. Toph picked something out of her ear and tossed it on the ground.

"You've got… new bloodbenders?" she asked.

"Whole gangs of 'em," said Lin, crossing her arms. "Mostly in the United Republic and the Fire Nation. They don't seem limited to the full moon, and I've gotten reports that a few can even bloodbend in the daytime. I haven't seen that for myself, though."

"None of our officers can handle them," Iroh said. "They can counteract just about anything we do. And I know my mother won't admit it, but her forces are strained as well. We were… hoping the avatar would have a suggestion."

Korra breathed slowly. The most obvious opponent to a bloodbender, of course, was another bloodbender. Maybe she hadn't finished her training with Zuko, but she knew that much. "I'm not sure what help I would be," she said carefully. "Amon used bloodbending against me pretty easily."

"And you kicked his butt just the same," said Toph. "Go figure."

"I got lucky," Korra said. "Your best bet against bloodbending is someone who knows the technique themselves and can counteract it."

"Oh, right. I'll just round up these gangsters and ask if any of them want to work for the police. I'm sure that will go over well," said Lin.

"Hang on, hang on," said Iroh, waving his hand in the middle of the table to draw everyone's eyes. "Korra, doesn't Katara know bloodbending? I know it's technically illegal, but perhaps she would make an exception and teach you just enough to use for defensive purposes?"

Korra glanced around the table. Everyone was leaning forward to listen to her now. Even Toph. "Katara's the one who pushed to ban bloodbending to begin with," Korra said. "I can't imagine her making any exception to teach anybody. She… might not even remember how to do it anymore." It wasn't a total lie. Katara had not forgotten, but she couldn't do it anymore, just the same. Unfortunately, Zuko was back to traveling the world again, and Korra was at a loss for who else could teach her. Unless…

 _"My last student hated these sorts of analogies,"_ she remembered Zuko saying. _"She wasn't a firebender, so she said they did nothing but confuse her."_

So Zuko had had another student at some point. But who would it have been? Someone female. And not a firebender. _Well, obviously, not a firebender. Who besides Zuko and the avatar would have two abilities at once?_

She glanced around the table again. Lin had taken to massaging her forehead, while Iroh was deep in thought, stroking his chin. Toph stared forward, yet seemed to be focused on Korra.

"Hey," the old woman suddenly announced. "Why don't the two of you give me and Twinkle Toes some thinking time alone?"

"What are you going to do?" Lin asked skeptically. "Kick her around the room a bit until she gets an idea?"

"Now, if I did that and it actually worked, wouldn't you be so proud of your mother? Go on, now. Get out."

Iroh shrugged his shoulders while Lin walked out the door with a dramatic sigh and insisting they would be back in just a few minutes. Only when the sound of their footsteps had completely faded did Toph turn to Korra and ask, "Okay, spill. Who do you have in mind to teach you?"

"I-I-" Korra stuttered. Toph had been leaning forward while she spoke, feet firmly planted on the floor. How could she have been so stupid as to miss that? "No one. I-"

"Liar."

Korra groaned. What was she supposed to say? Sure, Toph probably knew about Zuko's power, but what if she didn't? Zuko had said it was a closely guarded secret, so maybe she shouldn't mention anything about-

"I think it's very sweet of you to try so hard to keep Zuko's secret," Toph said. "But give me some credit. I'm the one who first suggested that bloodbending might help him."

Relief swept over Korra and she let out a long sigh. "Okay, good to know," she said. "But I don't know where Zuko is right now. He can't teach me if I can't talk to him."

"I'm aware of that, but you're thinking of someone else, aren't you?"

Korra bit her lip and refused to answer. Whoever else Zuko had taught, she was sure he'd had a good reason. Just the same, he had taught it when it was illegal. Who would he do that for?

"He said he had a student," she said hesitantly.

Toph nodded, like a teacher waiting for her dense pupil to come up with the right answer. Korra gritted her teeth. If the old woman knew something, why didn't she just say so? But since she was pretty sure she would lose the waiting game, she tried to think of the answer Toph was waiting for on her own. A student… a woman… a nonbender. Obviously, someone close to Zuko. He wouldn't do that for just anybody.

Korra's eyes went wide. "F-firelord Izumi?" she stuttered. "She's a bloodbender?"

Toph smiled. "Way to use your intellect, Twinkle Toes. Thought for a second I really would have to kick you around to get those brain cells working."

"B-But… why-" Korra cut herself off. She knew exactly why no one had told her what Firelord Izumi could do. For the same reason no one had told her what Zuko could do.

"So can she firebend, too, or…"

Toph shook her head. "Unfortunately, no. And she detests that fact more than she ever lets on. Quite frankly, if Katara still knew bloodbending, you'd probably have better luck with her than with Izumi." She let out a long sigh. "But the way things are now, I think she's your best bet." She glanced at the door. "Seems our audience is about to return."

She waited until the door opened and Lin and Iroh retook their seats.

"The avatar had a brilliant idea," Toph announced way more loudly than necessary. "We need a full analysis of this situation. We know what's going on here, but our information on the Fire Nation is limited. Korra is going to visit Izumi and see what she can learn."

Lin raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Wait. You and Korra were left alone to plan something, and doing an analysis was your first solution. Who are you and what did you do with my mother?"

"I'm getting crazy in my old age," Toph said. "I'm sure it'll wear off soon."


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"So, wait, why are we going to the Fire Nation again?" Mako asked, a large backpack slung over his shoulders. Granted, most of the stuff in it was his brother's - maps, mover posters, and some weird lotion of Varrick's creation that Bolin insisted would keep skin from burning no matter how sunny it got.

Korra glanced over her shoulder to the waiting sky bison. Though Tenzin had offered a ride on any number of the sky bison, they had somehow ended up with Opal's bison, Juicy. Big, dopey, booger-nosed Juicy.

The animal looked at her now with lulling, saggy eyes.

 _Geez, Tenzin,_ she thought. _Of all the flying bison in all the nations, why oh why did it have to be that one?_ Of course, she might very well end up swimming her way to the Fire Nation if the two brothers didn't hurry themselves up. "I'm going to have an important diplomatic meeting with Firelord Izumi," she finally answered Mako. "I have no clue why you two are here."

"I'm going on a tour through the Fire Nation to promote, 'Nuktuk: Hero of the South!'" Bolin announced proudly. Did you know the movers just now started to gain popularity there? It's insane!"

"Uh-huh," Korra said. Her gaze fell to Mako. "And why are you tagging along, again?"

"You want me to leave this guy wandering freely around the Fire Nation while you meet with Firelord Izumi?" Mako asked, pointing to Bolin, who was now opening one of the Varrick-Lotion bottles and rubbing it all over his face. The stuff smelled like rotten sea prunes.

"Fair point," Korra said with a shrug. _Lousy cover-up that you're just tagging along because you're worried about me, but fair point, just the same._

"Where's Asami?" Bolin asked suddenly. "Shouldn't she be coming to?"

"Yeah, unlike us, Asami has an actual job," Mako reminded him.

"Oh, yeah."

#

Firelord Izumi got a great number of visitors from time to time, but Avatar Korra's arrival was a surprise to her. So much so, in fact, that when one of her guards came and announced Korra's arrival, Izumi asked him to repeat himself twice just to be sure she'd heard correctly. He then stepped aside and sure enough, there was the young waterbender standing in the throne room's doorway. She looked around like a lost child and Izumi could not decide who seemed more out of place - her guard or the avatar.

"There's.. something else, your highness," the guard said nervously. "The avatar specifically requested to have a conversation with you in private."

Izumi gave a wry smile. "A private conversation, hm? That should be interesting." She raised a hand and motioned to the palace staff around her. "You may leave us. I will call you when you are needed."

"B-but, your highness-" the guard stammered. Not out of rudeness or defiance, but that was the infuriating part of it. There was a look in his eyes that Izumi just knew past generations never gave the Firelord. No one ever thought Ozai would get hurt if he wasn't being watched 24/7. But she was the nonbender, the helpless one. Even alone with the avatar, her guards still worried about her. Especially with gangs of bloodbenders about the capital city.

"I understand your concern, but my father taught me to defend myself perfectly well, and besides, I'm here with the avatar. If anyone could get through her, I'm quite positive you'd be just as useless." She smiled politely as the guard's face fell from the blow to his ego. Hanging his head, he walked out of the room. The doors echoed as they shut behind him.

"Now then," said Izumi, stepping up to Korra. "Tell me what's on your mind."

#

Korra twisted her fingers. She'd thought Republic City was big when she first visited, but this palace took things to a completely different level. She wished she could have Asami here. Asami talked to important people all the time. Even Mako with his weird way of babbling when he got nervous would probably botch this up much less than she was about to. Still, she'd promised to keep this secret, and the best way to keep a secret was to go it alone.

"It's… about the new bloodbenders. Iroh says there's been some issues with them."

Izumi frowned, but nodded. "My son is correct. We've had several gangs of bloodbenders causing issues in the capital. Most of them are still too unskilled to handle more than two or three officers at a time, but they do drain our police resources."

Korra swallowed hard. "Yeah, so… Iroh, Lin, and Toph had a talk with me. They wanted to know what ideas I have for, um… y'know, for stopping these gangs."

"And you have an idea? Or you're asking me for an idea?" Izumi said. Her voice had gotten softer now. Korra had no clue if that was a good or a bad thing.

"I… have an idea. But I need your help with it."

"With manpower? I just explained to you, we're barely containing the problem here as it is. I have little resources to offer you."

"No, no. I mean, I want you to teach me bloodbending. So I can use it to defend people."

Izumi went silent. No widened eyes or raised eyebrows, just an impassive, focused stare, like Korra had done nothing but annoy her. Korra was now fairly sure that the soft voice had been a bad sign.

"And how do you expect a nonbender to teach you an advanced waterbending technique? Ask Katara if you're determined to learn that dark nonsense." She rose from her seat.

 _No,_ Korra thought. _Don't let her call the guards back in now._

"Katara doesn't know it anymore," Korra said quickly. Maybe if she just revealed that Izumi had nothing to hide from her, she'd listen to reason. "Zuko told me. Aang used energybending to move Katara's ability to bloodbend to Zuko, and he…"

Korra stopped and Toph's words flashed in her mind. _"She detests that fact more than she ever lets on."_ Bringing it up might just make Izumi more upset with her. But at this point, what did she have to lose?

"Zuko passed it onto you. He didn't tell me. Not on purpose, anyway. He was trying to teach me to help with my healing and just mentioned he'd had another student, and-"

A crash resounded throughout the room. Bits of shattered glass started raining down on Izumi and Korra. On instinct, Korra started to run forward to protect Izumi, but felt her body jerked backwards. This wasn't the floating sensation she got when Zuko had demonstrated his bloodbending skills on her. This was someone who had no issues with hurting her. Or worse.

Her breathing picked up speed. Not too long ago, this sensation would have sent her into a panicked frenzy. It threatened to now. But she had to fight it. She was the avatar.

Korra looked up to face their attackers. There were three of them, two men and a woman. None of them bothered wearing masks to obscure their faces, and Korra realized when one of the men got closer that he was actually a teenager, no older than fifteen. His comrades looked closer to Korra's age. The woman had Izumi pinned to a wall, while the man and the kid had their arms raised, attention focused on Korra.

 _When did I get old enough to think of a fifteen-year-old as a kid?_

She tried again to step forward, but the attempt sent pain shoot through her body. She struggled to remember some of what Zuko had taught her, even a hint would help right now, but everything felt like a blur in her mind.

Meanwhile, Izumi remained calm and didn't look the least bit upset that someone was in a good position to snap her neck. "I would exercise caution, if I were you," she said to the woman. "The avatar has mastered bloodbending herself, and I doubt she plans to wait much longer for the group of you to come to your senses."

"Shut up!" the woman snapped. She moved her arms and lowered Izumi's body slightly, only to shove her hard against the wall again. The impact knocked Izumi's glasses to the ground. "We came here to give the demands, not take them."

Izumi gave an exasperated sigh. If there was any pain, she didn't show it. "Very well, then. Avatar Korra, do what you need to do."

"You've got it." The words didn't come from Korra. Or, rather, they did, but not of her own free will. She could feel her lips moving, the sound coming from her throat, but she had no more control over it than she did her own feet right now. And then, suddenly, her arms felt free again. She stepped forward, flexing her fingers, just to make sure her attackers weren't messing with her somehow. But when she looked up, all three of them were tensed up, grunting with frustration. She knew that look. Knew it better than anyone. Someone had used their technique back on them, freezing them in place. Izumi collapsed into a sitting position, but never took her eyes off the battle.

Now sure she had full control of herself again, Korra shot a blast of fire into the air and announced, "Get out of here, all of you! And if I see you threatening so much as a beetle-moth, you'll get much worse than that. You understand me?"

None of them answered her. They were too busy scrambling up the ropes.

#

Later, when the palace guards had been assured that everything was fine, that their leader would not have their heads for being absent during the attack, and that she could not be safer than when she was with the amazing avatar, Korra finally had the chance to spill out everything on her mind.

"F-Firelord Izumi? What you did today… that was unbelievable," she whispered. "Your hands barely moved. And you still controlled three people. In the middle of the day."

Izumi shrugged her shoulders, though she still managed to look regal doing it. "I keep telling my guards my father trained me to defend myself, and yet somehow they never do believe me." She turned to Korra. "I now find myself in the awkward position of reconsidering your request," she said. "As this gang has clearly seen what the avatar is capable of, I have no doubt they'll attack you again."

"I'm sorry," Korra said, hanging her head. "If anything I said before brought up memories, I mean."

Izumi shook her head. "I am not upset that my father told you what I am," she said. "Aang knew about it, and had your connection to your past self been left un-severed, you could have learned that fact anytime you wished. But let me be clear. When my father taught you, I'm sure he was quite gentle about it. I am not gentle. The technique is violent and dangerous and I'm going to treat it as such. Do you understand?"

Korra nodded nervously, wondering if it was too late to just go back to Lin's first idea of letting Toph kick her around a room.

"Very well, then. Let us move to a space that is not full of broken glass, and we will begin."


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"No fear. No pain. No mercy." 843 whispered the words as soon as her eyes opened.

It was still early. Two hours before sunrise. She rose. Her body moved like clockwork. She rinsed her face in the small basin by her bunk. Donned her uniform. Made her bed. Went to the dining room. Two young potentials, orphans both, served her food, just as she had once served those who were now Weapons. Breakfast was a small bowl of plain porridge and a papaya. There was tea as well—a special blend of ginseng for energy, burdock root to prevent muscle fatigue, and licorice to support healing. It tasted awful, but it had had everything a living weapon needed.

She sat in her usual seat, third table down, second-to-last seat from the exit, beside the other tier one weapons. She sipped her tea, saying nothing. The boy to her right didn't speak either. He rubbed his forehead as he poked his food.

 _Lack of appetite. Another migraine,_ she thought. _Third one this week._ Pity. She had just gotten used to sparing with this one. But if the headaches kept up he would break, just like the one before him. Then Master would have to make a new weapon to fill the empty chair. One of the kitchen orphans maybe? The girl was just about the right age…

A tremor ran up her hand. She swallowed.

 _No fear. No pain. No mercy._

She repeated the words again, silently until the feeling passed. She touched her own forehead. Not sure why. She could see the vague reflection of the tattoo in her tea. The third eye was vivid on her skin, red as fresh blood. Her chakras' path was clear, too. It was years since her last migraine.

Footsteps sounded. Her master's and another—a older man, she knew from the gait. He was wearing boots. Fire Nation military. And he was wealthy. The kind of wealthy that let their coins jingle on their belt.

 _A buyer._

The tier twos and threes were standing now—the tier threes already in rigid attention. She rose and turned too, right-ways, so that she would be facing the door when her master entered.

"I admit I'm surprised to see your families still in business, Master Eli. Especially after Lord Zuko took the throne," said the stranger with the clunking boots. Her master's footsteps were much lighter, like wind whispering in the night.

"People will always need weapons, Tomas. Even Lord Zuko. I imagine that's why the young lord never bothered to make an appearance after he came to power. Then again, my father said he always was a coward."

"True," said Tomas. "But I doubt Firelord Izumi will make the same choice if she ever finds out the truth about this little operation."

The two men entered side-by side. The stranger wore fine Fire Nation clothes with gold embroidery but no armor. Ex-military then? A former officer most likely, since he still carried himself with authority. Her master wore his usual flowing robes of orange and yellow.

"And how would she learn that? Are you going to enlighten her, Tomas?" her master asked. He was a soft-spoken man, but his voice was as soothing as eel-hound claws raking slowly down her spine. She sucked in a breath.

 _No fear,_ she thought.

Tomas chuckled, making the coins on his belt jingle even harder. "Me? After what her father did to my family? Surly, Eli, you know me better than that. Why do you think I came all the way out here personally?"

"I see." said Master. "In that case, let's get right to business."

He beckoned towards the tier three table. Without instruction, the program's most powerful weapon stood.

"Weapon number 459, Morter," Master announced.

Morter was burly and muscled and still incredibly limber for his years. But it wasn't his combat skills that made him Master's most prized weapon. Morter had single-handedly leveled more ground, taken more lives with his combustionbending then the rest of them put together. As a sign of his rank, his third eye was slashed with three other horizontal tattoos in matching red.

"Morter will serve you well. Consider it a gift from my ancestors."

The Fire Nation man didn't reply. He was too busy making faces at Morter, as if he couldn't decide whether to be in awe or afraid. Not an uncommon reaction, actually. It took him a moment to realize Master had addressed him.

"He's magnificent. I promise his talents will not go to waste."

"Is there anything else?"

The Fire Nation man gave a yellowed smile. "Actually, now that you mention it, I wanted to discuss equipping my associates."

Her master's mouth set into a line. "A weapon is only as good as its handler, Tomas. Those glorified bandits you call associates barely have the sense to handle their own bending, let alone command one of my weapons. "

Master had a point. Apparently his father had made that mistake once and loaned his prize weapon to a warlord. But the weapon, number 613 Pike, tried to break her contract and escape with a rebel called Zaheer. She even had the nerve to give herself a human name. For this treason, Master's father left her for scrap, refusing to free her even after she ended up in a Northern Water Tribe ice prison. Or so the story went. Master never said what happened after.

Tomas shifted in place.

"So you know then…"

"My son informed me. Word tends to spread quickly when the royal palace is invaded by rogue benders who attack the Firelord in broad daylight." He shook his head. "How utterly sloppy of you."

His tone was reproachful, disgusted even and his tone made old Tomas squirm.

"Yes, well, there were some… complications. The Avatar made an unexpected appearance." He swallowed. "And she has mastered bloodbending."

Her master's brows lifted. "Has she now?" He fingered the snowy beard that ran halfway to his chest. "Interesting. In that case, perhaps I will loan you another. A lighter weapon… something even your bandits can handle.  
He gestured again, this time to the tier one table. To her. She rose and stepped forward.

"Weapon number 843 Fuse," said Master.

The Fire Nation man scratched his narrow chin and looked her over with equally narrow eyes.

"This one doesn't look as powerful as the others…"

"She's been field-tested and received top marks for agility, combat, and accuracy. She's more than enough for your bandits, I assure you. Well, provided you pay collateral, of course."

The Fire Nation man was still eyeing her.

"Wha-? Oh, money. Yes, of course." He produced an impressive gold box filled with, surprise, more gold.

"Very good," said her Master. "I'll have them outfitted and shipped by tomorrow. Just make sure your associates are prepared. This isn't a toy for them to play with."

"I'll make sure they know. Thank you, Master Eli." The Fire Nation man turned to go.

"Oh, and Tomas? The next time you visit, I expect better news."


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Ouch!" Korra fell flat on her face as Izumi bloodbent her feet out from under her. The Firelord released her hold once Korra was down, and Korra scrambled up to her knees, feeling her nose to make sure it wasn't bleeding.

"Geez, what was that all about?" she exclaimed. "Your dad always made me announce what I was about to do whenever we practiced."

"Yes, I'm aware of his training methods," said Izumi, lowering her arms from their bending stance. "Announcing is pointless. Your opponents aren't going to announce their intentions to you, so why should I? I'm guessing you even argued as much to my father when you were training?"

Korra felt her face grow hot, and Izumi smiled. "I'll take that as a yes. Now stand up. And try to actually resist this time. You make it too easy."

Korra dragged herself up with a groan. This was her fourth day here, and so far her best achievement was that once, she got to wiggle her fingers while Izumi was holding her still. She was pretty sure that wasn't going to be useful and hoped at the very least that Bolin and Mako were having a better time than she was.

#

"I can't believe Korra kicked us out again!" Bolin wailed as he and Mako made their way down the streets of the Fire Nation capital. It was a pleasant enough walk… balmy, warm, and lots of vendors selling all kinds of goods that Republic City didn't carry. Mako put down a coin for a bag of fire flakes and munched them thoughtfully. Maybe the heat would ignite some creative part of his brain.

"Didn't you have posters to give out or something?" he asked his brother.

"Gave them all out the first day we were here," Bolin said with a sigh. "They're hung up all around town. See?" He pointed and Mako realized that the vendor he'd just bought the fire flakes from had a large Nuktuk poster hung up next to the menu. "Honestly, bro?" Bolin said. "For coming here to deal with roving gangs of evil bloodbenders, I'd have thought we'd see some more action by now."

"Yeah." Mako rubbed his chin. "It is weird that all her meetings with the Firelord are taking so long. I thought they would have come up with some solutions by now. Korra's never been one to talk strategy for too long."

"Maybe Firelord Izumi is teaching her the art of patience and planning?" Bolin suggested. Mako raised his eyebrows. "Okay, okay, maybe not."

Just then, the two of them heard the sound of a wings fluttering above them. Pabu let out a small bark, and Bolin looked up to see a messenger bird perched on top of the stall. It pecked at the edge of the Nuktuk poster and tilted its head curiously at them.

"Uh, something for us?" Mako asked.

It titled its head the other way and held out its leg. Sure enough, a small slip of paper with Bolin and Mako's names on it was attached. Mako slipped the paper off.

"I, um, don't have anything to feed you," he said. "But thanks."

The bird glared at him, then nicked a hole in Nuktuk's face before sailing back towards the palace. Mako unrolled the slip of paper and began reading. It contained several high-denomination bills and he tactfully slipped them into his pocket in a way that no one standing nearby would notice.

"It's a letter from Korra," Bolin whispered with excitement, noting the name at the top of the letter. Mako got excited at first, too. Then he read the message in its entirety.

"She says she's going to need at least another week with the Firelord," he muttered. "But she says to go enjoy ourselves and see the sights of the Fire Nation together."

Mako had a strong temptation to burn the letter in his fingers, but Bolin seemed in much better spirits. "Oo! Oo! Could we go to Ember Island?" he asked happily.

"I think that's a bit far out," Mako replied. "But there's a few nearby villages with some good theaters, if that's what you're looking for." He pulled out his map. "Here we go. 'Sunport. A friendly town with plenty of local entertainment.' That sounds good, right?"

"Anything that takes my mind off Opal sounds good," Bolin said with a sigh. Pabu gave him a sympathetic lick on the cheek.

Opal. Mako knew it had to come up some time. The best he could hope for was a good distraction. He patted his brother on the shoulder and looked around them. "Come on, there's a train station a couple blocks up from here. Let's see what we can find."

#

"We need to draw out the Firelord," Fuse's handler Jarvan announced to his trusty crew, which was growing larger by the day.

Hs spread a map of the Fire Nation across an old plank supported by a barrel and a bale of hay. Jarvan's kid brother, Kasan, sat on a second barrel. Fuse stood aside, motionless and alert, her arms crossed over her chest. Jarvan's tent didn't have much room to spare, forcing the leaders of two other gangs to edge in much closer to her then they would have liked. Fuse didn't protest, even if they did smell like rank fish and nervous sweat.

It was probably her presence that made them all twitchy in the first place. Not surprising. Part of the reason to carry a weapon was to inspire fear as well as respect. Master knew this, and had outfitted her accordingly with black and red mercenary leathers. At his son Eagon's suggestion, he had even permitted her to dye the tips of bangs a popping red.

"We could start attacking villages… that would lure her away from the palace." One leader suggested.

"As if, genus. The Firelord wouldn't come all the way out here just to defend farmers and fishwives. She'd send soldiers," Jarvan spat back.

"So? I've already taken out plenty of soldiers now that I can do this…" The leader flexed thick fingers and spread his arms, forcing a nearby underling to conk himself in the head with his own fist. Raucous laughter erupted. The dazed underling laughed, too.

"Good one, boss!" He smacked himself again, this time toppling over backwards.

"Ha ha!" the big man bellowed. "Stop hitting yourself! Stop hitting yourself!"

"That's enough, Crull," snapped Jarvan. "I'm being serious. We can't risk hitting the palace again. Not until we even the odds…"

 _These morons really made it into the palace? The Firelord must be slipping._

That wouldn't be the case any longer, though. Thanks to these careless fools, the best chance they had now of luring out the Firelord was to capture her family. Like it was that easy.

Lord Zuko was off diplomatting with a caravan of heavy guard—flames only knew where. And General Iroh never seemed to go anywhere without a sizeable portion of the Fire Nation military. The same went for his wife.

A different target then. If not the Firelord's family, then someone important to her. Someone indispensable… like the avatar.

The avatar didn't travel with guards. She had power, yes. The four elements plus metal and now bloodbending. It would be a hard fight. But even bloodbending wasn't a foolproof discipline. It had limits. To control multiple targets the bloodbender had to sacrifice precision. And maintaining the hold required great concentration, which reduced range. If the avatar was taken down quickly and from a distance….

Why was she even bothering with this train of thought? It wasn't her job to plan. She was a tool and was there to follow the commands of her handlers… even if her handlers were incompetent.

"So it's settled," said Jarvon with a nod, drawing back her wandering attention. "Sibeen's crew will start hitting villages to the west. Tarman's to the east. That should give General Iroh enough reason to spread the troops nice and thin. Kasan and I will take the rest south, towards Ember Island, where we will rendezvous with Tomas. Lord Zuko must return to his home there eventually. Once we have him as our hostage that should draw the Firelord directly to us."

"You plan on taking Lord Zuko hostage?" 'Skepticism' didn't fully cover the level of disbelief in Crull's tone.

Jarvon gave a wide, wicked smile. "I've got a source that tells me the old man has a certain… weakness. Tomas will be fetching it for us."

Crull stared at him blankly.

"Yes, we can take him hostage!" Jarvon snapped. "Now stop questioning me and get out!"

The crowd began to disperse, but not without Kasan leaning close to whisper, "I don't like this plan. What if the avatar shows up to protect Lord Zuko?"

"Relax. Not even the avatar can take on all of us at once. Especially not if we have a hostage. And don't forget we've got the weapon."

Fuse straightened at his mention. _Huh. Guess they figured out a plan after all. Go, idiots._


	8. Chapter 7

_Question for our readers: Do you like shorter chapters with updates every week (as we've been doing) or would you prefer longer chapters with updates every other week? Let us know in the reviews, and thanks for reading!_

Chapter 7

Fuse rose the next morning, two hours before dawn. She tidied her little edge of the camp far away from Jarven and his fish-smelling pals. Though she really should have stayed within earshot of her handler, no one in this group had the spine to argue with her. They hadn't they gone out of their way to offer her food or blankets for the night, either. No matter. She didn't need them, anyway. Master had equipped her with her own camping supplies and food—and the skills to acquire more if needed. It was a point of pride with him. His weapons were meant to get the job done as quickly and effectively as possible-not burden the handler with the cost of their upkeep.

She set to work. Perhaps not quite as efficiently here in the wilderness then back at the compound, but quickly just the same. She prepped her small cookfire. Gathered water from a nearby stream. Paused a moment to gather a patch of wild mushrooms. Began to boil rice porridge...

Something rustled. A small shadow darted just at the tree line.

"So you found me again, did you?" she said, her mouth curving ever-so-slightly. A slender fire-ferret emerged and bounded over-as best as she could bound, at least-with a meaty squirrel-toad clutched in her mouth.

"A gift? For me? Thank you, Shouga." She took the present, silently grateful and eager to eat something other than her rice rations or what edible plants she had time to gather. She could have hunted. Rather well, in fact, if she was alone. But traveling with a rowdy gang of rogue benders wasn't exactly conducive for luring out the local wildlife.

With a few quick strokes of her dagger she prepared the squirrel-toad and set it to roasting on her small cookfire. In the meantime she divided up her porridge and wild mushrooms, offering Shouga a sizable portion.

How long had it been now since the two of them had shared a meal like this? A year? Yes, at least. Towards the end of her first mission. Shouga was just barely passed kithood—a half-starved, wild-eyed creature torn from her nest too early by the greedy man Fuse was hired to escort home. He was a collector by trade, with many rare treasures in need of guarding. Shouga, a rare volcano-dwelling fire-ferret (or volcat as they were often nicknamed), was among them. She was the fancy pet he promised to present on a pillow to his swooning lady friend. Unfortunately for him, Shouga had other plans, none of them particularly friendly.

When the man finally lost patience with her a few days into the trip he had thrown Shouga's cage at Fuse's head and ordered her to "take care of the blasted thing." So, she had. Just not in the way he'd had in mind.

Fuse divided the squirrel-toad next, savoring hers with guilty slowness. She watched the young animal bolt down her portion, then sit back to groom her whiskers with a steady paw. It was hard to believe that skinny kit had turned into the predator currently curled by the fire.

Footsteps sounded. Jarven's most likely, since he was the only bender in this lot not secretly terrified of her.

"Is that a volcat?" he asked, catching only a blurred glimpse of ginger and flame-orange fur as Shouga disappeared back into the trees.

Fuse nodded.

"Don't see many of them this far south of the volcanoes. How'd you tame him?"

"Her," Fuse pointed out. "And I didn't."

Taming would imply that Shouga was her pet. And weapons weren't allowed to have pets. But the rules were different for travel companions. Shouga could hunt and feed herself, find her own shelter, and defend herself from enemies. So could Fuse. What was the harm, really, if they happened to do these things in the same vicinity now and then?

"Right…" said Jarven with a look that suggested she must have grown a second head or something. Then he straightened.

"We've nearly reached Sunport. I want you to go in ahead of us. Then, when I give the signal, I want you to create a big, noisy, explosive distraction to draw off the guards."

 _Typical,_ she thought. _'You go handle the trained soldiers. We'll take care of the scary unarmed civilians. Bwa ha ha!'_ _Coward._

"I can do that." she said.

#

It took almost a half hour train ride for Mako and Bolin to make their way from the Royal Caldera City into Sunport. Mako actually preferred it out here. None of the royal guard around, the houses all a mix of colors… the world felt real here.

Of course, with the pleasant weather outside, the city streets were full of happy couples walking alongside each other. Bolin watched each of them pass with his tears on the brink of producing waterfalls. Mako sighed. His brother hadn't taken the breakup with Opal easily, and Mako had hoped this trip would help distract him a bit. Clearly, it was having the opposite effect. In an effort to redirect Bolin's thoughts, Mako flicked through some of the pamphlets he'd picked up on the local attractions and began reading aloud.

"Hey, fun fact. Did you know that Sunport used to be known as Harbor City? Its name was changed by Firelord Zuko in the year 107 AG, with the official explanation being that the old name was 'too blasted obvious'."

He grinned awkwardly as he looked up from the pamphlet. Given that his brother's dejected expression hadn't changed in the slightest, Mako took a guess that his tactics were failing.

"Arg, I don't get it! Why am I being rejected by all the women in my life?" Bolin lamented way too loudly. "Opal hates me, Korra doesn't want me around. I bet if I _met_ Firelord Izumi, she'd kick me out for being too Bolin-ish!"

Mako glanced around them. This town was not as well-policed as the area just outside the palace, and more than a few heads had raised when Bolin started ranting about the Avatar and the Firelord.

"Let's try not to draw attention to ourselves," he said quietly. Then, only because he couldn't resist, he added on, "and you did meet Firelord Izumi. She was sitting there when you burst in on the world leader meeting and President Raiko tried to have you arrested."

"Oh, yeah," Bolin said in a surprisingly upbeat tone. "I'd totally forgotten about that."

Mako glanced back at the crowd around them. Most the people whose attention they'd drawn earlier had gone back to whatever they were doing before the crazy loud guys interrupted them. But two men, two particularly unfriendly looking men, stood up and moved in Mako and Bolin's direction.

"What was that you were saying about the Avatar?" one of them spat. The street was not particularly wide, and they had tactfully positioned themselves to block off any easy escape. Mako and Bolin exchanged nervous glances. Mako tried to hazard a guess about how much these men had heard and calculate how much they could downplay any connection to Korra whatsoever.

"That's right! Me and the Avatar are like best buds, is what I was saying!" Bolin announced. "Why, if she found out you were messing around with her numero uno friend, she'd kick your butts so bad, you'd… you'd, um… wish you didn't have butts!"

Mako covered his face. Not surprisingly, the two men erupted with laughter. Pabu groaned and hid in Bolin's shirt.

"Friends with the Avatar, huh?" one guy laughed. "Now that's a good one!"

"Hey, wait a sec!" the other guy said. He grabbed Bolin's chin and turned his face from side to side. "Ain't you that mover star? That Numbtuck guy?"

"Nuktuk," Bolin quickly corrected, even though regret flushed across his face half a second later.

"Yeah, that's it!" the man said. He released Bolin's chin and turned to his colleague. "You know, I heard the Avatar is a huge Nuktug fan. I bet if we kidnap this guy, he'd make great bait."

"Nope, I'd make terrible bait!" Bolin exclaimed, waving his hands in front of him. "Korra hates Nuktuk. The only thing that Korra hates more than Nuktuk is people who mispronounce Nuktuk's name."

"Ha, nice try."

The two mens' stances changed. Rather than trying to block off both brothers' escape, they were now focused only on "Nuktug". Bolin put up his fists.

"All right then, I'm afraid you leave me no choice. Prepare to face the wrath of Nuktu-" His words were choked off as his body was pulled suddenly against his command. "Ack. Oh... bloodbenders... you're bloodbenders!"

"That's right," grunted the bigger of the two. "and you're comin' with us, Nuklug."

"It's pronounced… oh, never mind."

The three started to head away, the two men in front, Bolin jerking clumsily behind like a puppet on a string.

Everything in Mako screamed that he had to protect his brother. But the two thugs had hardly taken an interest in him. He advanced a step, ready to scream at them. To tell them they'd have to rip him apart before they took his brother away. Bolin yelled instead, even louder then usual.

"Okay, okay! I'll go with you… seeing as how there is _no way someone like me could possibly defend against bloodbending._ Yeah, I really don't know how I'm going to get out of this one. If only there was someone who could _GO GET HELP!"_

Mako froze. Bolin was right. This might be his one chance to slip away unnoticed. His only chance to get help.

 _Sorry, bro,_ he thought to himself. Then, wincing, he turned and sprinted down the street. He heard a few shouts behind him, but as his lungs screamed for a breath, the voices got softer and softer. No sounds of footsteps followed.

 _I have to get Korra,_ he thought. _I have to get help._

He rounded the corner at a full sprint. He had to get back to the train station. He had to get word to Korra…

Something flashed in the corner of his eye. A light to bright to be the sun. Then came the explosion.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Korra was making progress. She fell on the floor a lot less now. Actually, she hadn't fallen on the floor once all afternoon. She was very familiar with the floor right now; its slick surface made falling easy. She always tried to work her way towards the few areas of the throne room that were actually carpeted, just to give herself a bit more traction.

"Watch your left side," Izumi commanded. Korra had fallen for that trick before. She focused her efforts on her right arm instead, making sure to keep it within her control as Izumi tried to hold it down.

The Firelord smiled. "Not bad. You're learning."

"Yeah, but…" Korra rubbed her arm. "This is going to sound weird, but isn't there anything you can teach me about bloodbending that isn't all… um… " She never had much of a flare for words, so she circled her hands around and made the type of noises she imagined came from creatures under her bed when she was four. Izumi gave her the eyebrow raise for the fifth time that day.

"Clarify," the Firelord said.

"Creepy," Korra finally summarized. "I mean, I get it. I know it's really awful that you can control another person's movements. I've gotten the receiving end of that way more times than I would've cared to, all right? But I mean, it's really awful that you can burn houses down with firebending, too. And yet we've got all this technology that depends on firebenders."

Firelord Izumi steepled her fingers. "You want me to demonstrate something positive that could be accomplished through bloodbending?"

"Yes, exactly."

Izumi stroked her chin thoughtfully for a few moments. "Well, I can demonstrate how effectively I can keep your lungs moving when they otherwise would refuse to do so, but I gather you don't care to nearly drown yourself for the sake of that demonstration."

"Erm, no," said Korra.

Izumi's expression softened and she walked over to the red carpet in the corner where Korra was standing. The two of them knelt down, the huge portrait of Firelord Ozai looming behind him.

"There is… one thing I trained myself to do as a child," Izumi said. "I can see if I still remember it."

Korra nodded. The Firelord stood and positioned herself in a basic waterbending stance. She breathed deeply, like she was going into some sort of a trance. Korra was about to ask what exactly was happened when she suddenly realized that Izumi's feet no longer touched the ground.

"No… way…" she whispered. She couldn't help it. The little girl inside of her, who always watched any kind of flying animal in wonder, completely took over her brain. She remember how she couldn't wait for the day she'd learn airbending, just so she could glide wherever she wanted. As she had to confess, as much as Zaheer had terrified her, something in her envied the skill of flight that he'd mastered.

Izumi's arms were shaking now; a line of sweat rolled down the side of her face, and her feet lowered to the floor. She sat down instantly, panting from the effort.

"To lift a whole body into the air is much different than controlling just a few muscles in it," she said. "But the effort is worth it sometimes."

"Let me try," Korra said, jumping to her feet. Izumi offered no objections and demonstrated the waterbending motions she'd used, slower this time so Korra could follow them in more detail.

"Let your whole body relax," she advised. "It's much more difficult if your muscles tighten up."

"Got it," said Korra. She closed her eyes and breathed slowly, imagining herself in one of Tenzin's meditation sessions. Her muscles felt loose, but ready. She went through the motions Izumi had showed her, letting her arms move as if a strong wind simply happened to be blowing them that way. Then, finally, she focused all her attention on her own body and pictured it floating. The floor she'd slipped and fallen on so many times… she suddenly could no longer feel it beneath her feet.

"Very good… keep your focus…" she heard Izumi saying. There was some other voices far off in the distance, but she didn't pay attention to them. Didn't open her eyes, either, for fear it might all end the moment she did.

It ended soon just the same, though. Mako burst through the door.

"Korra, it's Bolin! You have to-"

Korra's face found the floor again. She grunted and sat up. Mako was standing in the open doorway, with several of Izumi's guards rushing in behind him.

"Your majesty!" several of them stuttered at once, until one finally took charge. "We apologize! We knew this young man was with the avatar, so we let him enter the palace freely, but then he suddenly ran for this room, and-"

"It's fine," Izumi said, pushing up her glasses. Korra could tell from her tone that it was the opposite of fine. She eyed the look of shock on Mako's face. How much had he seen? How much it could Korra explain away? She'd had her eyes closed; was Izumi bloodbending at the time Mako burst in?

 _Calm down, the guards aren't acting like anything is weird. It must have just been Mako who saw._

"Were you just… flying?" Mako finally asked.

"Y-yes?" Korra said. Then, she cleared her throat and said much more firmly, "That is, uh… yes. Yes, I was. Empty the wind! Enter and become void! I mean-"

"Okay, that's great, congratulations," Mako said. "Korra, we need your help. Some of those bloodbenders just kipnapped my brother."

"What?" Korra asked. She thought she heard an echo in the room and looked back, realizing that Izumi had voiced the same thing.

"I think they were trying to get to you," Mako explained. "Someone recognized him from the movers and thought you were a big Nuktud… I mean Nudtuk… I mean, arg!"

"Okay, okay, calm down," Korra said, feeling more than a little strange at the idea of telling someone else he needed to cool off. "Do you know where they took him?"

"I think so. They've pretty much taken over this one town… Sunport, it was called. So I think if you go there, you'll find them easily enough."

"All right. I like easy." Korra pounded her fist into an open palm. Izumi stepped forward.

"Sunport contains one of the Fire Nation's largest harbors," she said. "It's a very strategic location, but one that would be difficult to keep. They've either got some asset we don't yet know of or they're idiots."

"Well, they've definitely got idiots," said Mako, rubbing the back of his neck. "But they're pretty organized, too. I don't think whoever's running this operation is anywhere near as stupid as his subordinates."

Izumi nodded thoughtfully. "All right, then. The two of you go and rescue your friend, and report back to me what you find."

"What do you mean?" Korra asked. "You're coming with us, right?"

"Um," said Mako, "why would the nonbending leader of the Fire Nation come with us?"

The look Izumi gave Korra for that little slip up strongly implied she wanted to go back to demonstrating just how painful bloodbending could be. Korra quickly tried to cover her tracks. "Um, she wouldn't. Obviously. But we were doing important… um, meeting stuff before you came in, and-"

"More important than rescuing Bolin?"

Korra winced.

Izumi stepped forward and cleared her throat. "If one of my towns has been taken over, my army will need to plan a counterattack," she said. "I hope you understand why this information is quite sensitive and why I would rather not discuss it with everyday citizens, however close they may be to the avatar."

Mako stiffened at the word "close", which irritated Korra to no end. How long did she and Mako have to officially be not-an-couple before their friendship could go back to normal?

"I assure you," Izumi went on. "I am putting your brother's rescue at the top of my priority list. Go with my guards and prepare a hot air balloon. They're a common sight around the Fire Nation, and I imagine they'll draw less attention than a sky bison."

Finally, Mako brightened up a bit and left. Korra thought she heard something about, "Where can I get a balloon guy" before he was out of earshot. She shut the door and turned to Izumi.

"Come with us," Korra whispered before Izumi got the chance to scold her. "We need you."

Izumi looked at her, not so much like she was shocked at the suggestion but more like she was shocked that Korra had been stupid enough to make it.

"If I were willing to reveal my powers to deal with these bands of ruffians, don't you think I would have done it by now? You've been training for almost a week now, and you clearly retained some skills you learned from my father. You can save your friend just fine."

Korra gritted her teeth. She knew the answer might be no, but she'd at least been hoping for some hesitancy on Izumi's part. "These bloodbenders are causing chaos in your kingdom, you're one of the few people who can counteract them, and you won't come?"

Izumi shook her head. "Korra, you miss the larger picture. You think if I go into this battle and start bloodbending that my citizens will be grateful? They'll be terrified of me. My father spent his entire life trying to show the world that the Firelord was someone who could be trusted. Not a tyrant, but a partner in world peace. You think that no battles arose during his reign in which bloodbending would have been a powerful asset? I refuse to sacrifice all his hard work. You _will_ go without me." And with that, she waved the avatar away, making it clear that the conversation was over.

The words stung. Not so much because Izumi was refusing to help; Korra had kind of figured that would happen the first time she asked. But the sting came from all the other possibilities that whirled around in Korra's mind as she left the throne room and headed after Mako. If it was really true that Zuko had mastered bloodbending seventy years ago, then how many times had he refrained from using it in battle, just to keep it secret? And was one of those times his battle with Zaheer?

 _Would I have ever been poisoned if Zuko had used bloodbending on the Red Lotus?_ She shook her head. Now wasn't the time to get caught up in the what ifs. Bolin needed her help.


End file.
